India launches at least 25 Israeli-made drones at Pakistan, military downs them

India has been using Israeli-made Harop drones to target Pakistan, with one drone hitting a military target near the eastern city of Lahore, wounding soldiers and causing destruction in the area.

Pakistan’s military said it shot down at least 25 Indian drones across the country on Thursday.

In a statement, the military added: "Debris of Israeli-made Harop drones is being recovered from various areas across Pakistan".

The Pakistani newspaper Dawn reported that the Harop drone is a loitering munition system, developed by the Israel Aerospace Industries MBT Missiles Division.

It added that the drone is designed to hover over battlefields, and attack based on the operator’s commands.

The drone is also known for its ability to hunt down important targets and air defences and can be manually or autonomously operated.

Various reports have thrown into question the legality of using Harop drones, particularly as they can choose and attack targets without direct human interference.

Loitering munitions in recent years have also raised concerns and discussion about lethal autonomous weapons systems and their compliance with international humanitarian law.

According to Dawn, over the last decade, India has imported $2.9 billion worth of military hardware from Israel – including surveillance drones, combat drones and missiles.

‘Serious provocation’

Pakistan’s Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry decried the attempted attack from India as a "serious, serious provocation," later publishing images of the downed drones.

"Indian drones continue to be sent into Pakistan airspace, [India] will continue to pay dearly for this naked aggression," the military chief added.

India’s defence military has not yet commented on the drone strike, however, the incident comes after Indian missile strikes killed 31 civilians in Pakistan a day earlier, including women and children.

Tensions between India and Pakistan have peaked in recent days, particularly after armed gunmen killed 26 people – mostly Hindu tourists – in Indian-controlled Kashmir last month. India says that its deadly strikes on Pakistan were in response to this attack.

India has accused Pakistan of supporting the gunmen who carried it out, while Islamabad has repeatedly denied this.

Pakistan on Thursday warned it will "avenge" those killed by Indian air strikes, signalling an imminent escalation in the worst violence in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbours.